


Carmine

by LadyDrace



Series: Junk Ficlets from Tumblr [101]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Actor Derek Hale, College Student Stiles, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Misunderstandings, POV Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 12:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10099874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyDrace/pseuds/LadyDrace
Summary: Stiles has no idea what Derek does for a living, but whatever it is it tends to cut into their dating time a lot.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [on tumblr](http://ladydrace.tumblr.com/post/148333145081/happy-birthday-vanessa) as a birthday gift for [Vanessa](http://sterektrashbag.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> And I know the title is hardly unique, but I've been calling it that in my head forever, so whatever.
> 
> All the love for my bro and cheerleader [Rita](http://crossroadswrite.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> Unbetaed.

_I’m sorry, but I have to cancel tonight. I have to work._

 

Stiles glares at his phone, hoping vainly that Derek feels it on the other end by some magical means.

 

_Dude, come on, tonight was gonna be special! I bought actual cutlery! I was gonna wine and dine you! Can’t you call in sick?_

 

_Not really, no._

 

_Meaning?_

 

_Meaning: no._

 

Stiles groans. He has in fact finally bought cutlery made of metal, rather than the ratty plastic picnic cutlery he’s been re-using way past its intended lifespan. Thrift store cutlery, sure, but he washed it, and it actually matches! Makes him feel weirdly adult.

 

_Please? I promise I’ll put out._

 

_You do that every time anyway._

 

_Shush, you’re damaging my snowy white reputation._

 

_Thanks, asshole, you just made me snort coffee._

 

Stiles would be offended, except for how making Derek laugh is pretty much his main goal these days, and also except for the fact that he was lying his ass off for that very same purpose. He slumps back on his surprisingly good found-on-the-curb couch that he’d totally intended on ravishing Derek on later, and resigns himself to another lonely night of Netflix and absolutely no chill.

 

He’s not entirely clear on what Derek actually does for a living, but whatever it is, it involves weird-ass hours, and considering Derek is always freshly showered, even when he comes by directly after work, Stiles assumes it’s something filthy. 24/7 auto repair maybe? Stiles kinda hopes so. Derek would make the hottest mechanic, and the lube job jokes would keep Stiles giggling until the end of time.

 

Whatever it is, it pays pretty well, because even though Derek never openly disapproves in any way of Stiles’ dirt poor and vaguely unhygienic student lifestyle, he does make a point of paying for every single meal they share, no matter how much Stiles objects. The one time Stiles got away with picking up the check, Derek bought him groceries to the precise amount he’d paid. Right down to the penny. And they were all _good_ groceries, no dumbass stuff to make the math work. It was pretty brilliant, actually, Stiles still gets the weirdest boner thinking back on it.

 

He turns on Netflix and finds his current favorite show. It’s a horror fantasy kinda thing with a very convoluted and confusing plot that even Stiles has trouble keeping up with, but the special effects are amazing, and he’s low-key crushing on one of the latex-molded monsters. He’s not even remotely ashamed of it, either. Those horns and ridges have potential, is all he’s saying. The episode starts with said monster in a ferocious battle, and Stiles settles down with the crumpled bag of Doritos he stole from Scott earlier to enjoy the view.

 

* * *

 

”Stiles?”

 

”Mm-hmm?”

 

”About Saturday…”

 

Stiles raises his head slowly from its amazingly comfortable resting place on Derek’s bare chest to glare at him. ”No.”

 

Derek has the good grace to look genuinely upset. ”I’m so sorry.”

 

”Dude, your boss is a dick.”

 

”You have no idea,” Derek groans. ”But he pays me, so…”

 

”But it’s a Saturday!” Stiles whines, not feeling the slightest inclination to be a reasonable adult at the moment. ”Can’t you trade shifts or something?”

 

The corner of Derek’s mouth twitches, and Stiles is sufficiently distracted by the movement that he kinda forgets to ask what that was even about.

 

”Uh, no. No, I’m kinda the only one who can do the job.”

 

”What the hell, that’s just poor business practices, man, what if you get mono or something?” Stiles argues, feeling slightly mollified when Derek’s nice strong arms cuddle him closer.

 

”I also happen to love my job, Stiles.”

 

”Ugh,” Stiles groans against Derek’s shoulder. ”Low blow.”

 

”I’ll show you low blow,” Derek counters, and if the pun on its own hadn’t been enough to make Stiles weak in the knees, the ruthless blow job that follows makes him entirely forget to ask what the goddamn job even is.

 

* * *

 

”Derek, what’s this?” Derek looks adorably cross-eyed at the tiny greyish ball of stickiness Stiles just picked out of his stubble, and sighs in a long-suffering way when he manages to focus.

 

”It’s glue. Dammit, I thought I’d gotten it all out.”

 

”Glue? Wow, what happened? You’re lucky it missed your eyes!” Stiles is actually really relieved, because as dashing as an eye-patch is, Derek’s eyes are unreal, and losing one of them to glue-related work accidents would be a disaster of global proportions.

 

”Just another day at the office,” Derek says with a cute but also infuriating smirk that Stiles hates himself a little bit for finding so hot.

 

”Come on, I’m being serious, what happened? Angry customer? Machinery malfunction? What?!”

 

Derek actually laughs now, showing off his amazing teeth, and making Stiles bounce slightly against his side. ”Stiles, come on, I have glue on my face every day, you know that.”

 

Stiles stares at him. ”Every-… what? No! Derek, I don’t even know what you do!”

 

It’s Derek’s turns to stare, and things are getting weird really fucking fast. ”You’re not joking. Why are you not joking? How can you not know?”

 

”You never told me!”

  
”But, on our first date- we- you said-” Derek cuts himself off, apparently giving up on stringing a coherent sentence together, and Stiles makes impatient hand gestures at him.

 

”I said what?”

 

”You said that Moon Mysteries is your favorite guilty pleasure show,” Derek says in a tone of voice like it should explain everything. It doesn’t.

 

”So?”

 

”And that your favorite character is Carmine.”

 

”… yeah? Are you sure you haven’t been _sniffing_ the glue?”

 

Derek stares at him for long enough that it starts getting really fucking weird, but it reaches a whole new level of weird when Derek doesn’t even try for an explanation, but instead pulls Stiles’ laptop closer and pulls up Netflix. Stiles is all for the strategy of ignoring problems until they go away, but not when he’s the problem being ignored.

 

”Derek-”

 

”Hang on.”

 

”Derek, what-”

 

”Just- hang on.”

 

Stiles fidgets and watches Derek pull up a random episode of Moon Mysteries, and pause it in a seemingly innocuous place. He turns to Stiles with a face of vague desperation, and Stiles is a little worried, because he’s still not seeing the answer to any of his millions of questions. ”It’s Carmine. So what, you already know he’s my fave. It’s the roaring, it’s just really hot, and he moves really well for a dude wearing a couple tons of latex.”

 

Derek looks ready to pull out his hair. ”No, but Stiles… the credits.”

 

Stiles hadn’t even noticed them. Whenever Carmine is on screen he’s usually too distracted to notice the names rolling out underneath on the aftermath of the theme music. ”Derek Hale- wait.” There’s a small explosion going on in Stiles’ brain, because how many Derek Hales can there be, and oh god, _Derek is on his favorite show_. ”You’re an actor?!”

 

”I’m Carmine,” Derek says, and _what the actual hell_. Stiles stares. At Derek. And then at the screen, catching Carmine in a really good roar, actually.

 

”You’re… _what?!_ ”

 

”I’m Carmine,” Derek says again, almost apologetically. ”On our first date, when you told me Carmine was your favorite, you had this look… I just… I thought it was a joke at my expense. I really thought you knew.”

 

”Dude!” Stiles cries, ignoring how it makes Derek grimace. ”We’ve watched dozens of episodes together! How has this never come up?!”

 

”I thought you were just subtly being an asshole because I kept having to cancel our dates.”

 

That does make perfect sense. Stiles would totally have done that if he’d known. And he will in the future. So very much. ”Okay, speaking of which, what is even up with that?!”

 

”We shoot outdoors a lot. The weather pretty much dictates the filming schedule.”

 

”Oh.”

 

”Yeah.”

 

It’s a long awkward minute while Stiles is re-arranging his entire world view in his head, until it finally comes together in beautiful harmony, and he can’t help the beaming smile on his face. ”I’m dating Carmine.”

 

”You’re also dating Derek Hale.”

 

”Yeah, but _Carmine_!” Stiles clambers into Derek’s lap with a delighted laugh, still hardly daring to believe how ridiculously lucky he is. ”Is there any chance at all you can wear the costume outside of work?”

 

Derek slams him down on the couch for that.

 

”Or just do the roar? I don’t even care about the neighbors that much.”

 

”Shut up.”

 

”Say a line, any line!”

 

”Stiles, for the love of-”

 

”Oh my god, I have so many jokes about the horns. How horny are you right now, Derek?”

 

”I hate you so much.”

 

It can’t be _that_ much, though, considering how Derek later invites Stiles to the set for a rendezvous in his trailer. In full make-up.

 

End.

**Author's Note:**

> [Feel free to find me on tumblr](http://ladydrace.tumblr.com)


End file.
